The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, issued a statement to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women: “Thirty-five years ago today, 14 young women were murdered, and 13 others were injured at the École Polytechnique de Montréal. These women were talented students, beloved daughters and sisters, and Canada’s future. Their lives were tragically cut short simply because they were women.”

He says the Liberal government passed legislation that banned over 2,000 models of assault-style firearms and their variants, including the weapon used at the École Polytechnique. And Thursday the government announced that 324 additional unique makes and models of assault-style firearms are now prohibited in Canada.

The assault rifle ban was instituted in 2020 and in 2022 a national handgun freeze went into effect restricting the sale, purchase, and transfer of handguns.

The City of Saskatoon is asking its employees to wear a white ribbon or moose hide pin on Friday, December 6 which is the National Day of Remembrance & Action on Violence Against Women.

It is the 35th anniversary of the 1989 massacre at École Polytechnique de Montreal, in which Marc Lépine separated the women from the men and murdered fourteen women in the name of fighting feminism.

In a news release the City of Saskatoon says it wants the wearing of the pin to initiate conversations around harmful words and behaviors that contribute to gender-based violence. The flags at all city facilities will also be lowered to half-mast.

The City says according to a Statistics Canada report released this year, Saskatchewan had the highest rates of reported family violence and intimate partner violence among the provinces in 2023 with 741 victims of family violence and 710 victims of intimate partner violence per 100,000 population.